Son Goku
by MannyJ
Summary: Hotamaru Sarutobi was the envoy ninja for Konoha. He had it all; wealth, a loving family, everything. It all ended when his convoy was attacked by a powerful group of missing-nin after the bounty on his head, and he and his family were killed in their last stand...or so it seemed. Haru Sarutobi is the sole survivor with one goal. God of Shinobi.
1. Prelude

"Five attacks since we left Konoha. Three within four days. I'm getting worried Satomi." A tall man with black hair looked out of the window to see a team of Anbu patrolling the area. All hands were on deck at this point in the journey.

A beautiful kunoichi with brown skin, black hair and striking dark amber eyes put a hand on his shoulder "Hotamaru, things will be okay once we get to the sand village. Stop worrying so much, will you? All five attacks were defended seamlessly."

"When the great Satomi Senju is my bodyguard I guess I don't have anything to worry about huh?" Hotamaru said as he turned around and tenderly kissed Satomi, "I'm sorry about this, love. This was not how I expected to spend our anniversary."

Satomi smiled, "You'll make up for it once we get to Sunagakure," she said coyly, "Anyways, how are the kids. It must be pretty stressful for them."

"They're in the other room," Hotamaru said as he sat on the bed, "Haru was a bit shaken up, but Yuina is taking care of it. They were targeted, but Mitsuru stepped in and helped with their earth jutsu."

Satomi stood up, "Well, we should go thank them, no? Let's go."

Taking Hotamaru in hand Satomi walked throughout the stone house incredulous that this is the result of a jutsu. Once they walked outside they were greeted by someone in regular Anbu garb; black clothes, grey jacket, sword, and most importantly a mask. This one in particular had a turtle mask, "Excuse me, but I'll have to ask you to go back in the house. The enemy could attack at any moment and we can't afford to let our guard down."

Satomi instantly took the reins of the conversation, "We would like to speak to the ninja who rescued our kids."

"That would be me," the Anbu said, "But please, let's take this conversation inside."

Before long the three of them were in the center room, "Would you mind removing your mask, Mitsuru? I'd like to thank you properly." Satomi said.

"I really shouldn't."

"It'll be fine," Satomi pressed, "It's not like Mitsuru is your real name is it?"

Mitsuru sighed and took off the mask he was wearing. He was handsome, with auburn hair and blue eyes, "I guess I don't have much of a choice then."

Both Satomi and Hotamaru bowed deeply, "You have my utmost gratitude, Mitsuru. As son of the Hokage I'm ashamed that I only proved to burden you," Hotamaru said, "And thank you for creating this house so the family could camp comfortably. I'd like to repay you, but there isn't anything as valuable as my family's safety."

Mitsuru took a breath, "Please raise your head sir," he said tenderly, "It's my job to protect you and your family. I failed that when you were forced to fight. It was an honor protecting your daughters, so don't fret please."

Satomi chuckled softly before taking note of Mitsuru's face, "You made a common mistake. We don't have two daughters."

Suddenly there was the sound of rushing feet in the hallways and the three of them looked through the door to see a young child in spats and knee-high socks being chased around by an older kid that had a dress in their arms. "Come on, Haru! Just do it one time for me!" The elder child Yuina looked like a younger, more feminine version of Hotamaru, but a tomboy through and through. She wore simple boy clothes and had her black hair cut short. In her arms was a small, white dress with blue bows and blue accents all over.

"No, neesan! You said that last time!" The younger one protested.

"What's going on you two?" Satomi said to get their attention.

The younger of the two children basically dived into Satomi's arms, "Mom, you have to help me!" The younger one, Haru, looked like a smaller version of Satomi but with Satomi's beauty turned into cuteness instead. There were a few striking differences though. Instead of black hair and brown eyes Haru had blue hair and matching eyes...for some odd reason.

Satomi laughed, "Okay, but what's with the palette swap? Release the jutsu."

Haru nodded and soon her hair changed to black from the roots and his eyes turned to a dark amber color that matched Satomi's, "Mom, can you tell Yuina to pick a new outfit. She drew me in that outfit already twice today."

Satomi sighed and looked at Yuina, "You heard your model, Yuina. Try again tomorrow."

Yuina frowned, but then snapped her fingers, "Oh I know a good one," she said, "Come on Haru, let's get you in something else."

Haru nodded and left, leaving the three of them alone. Though Hotamaru and Satomi barely notice the event Mitsuru was a bit confused, "Umm if you don't mind me asking why did you say you didn't have to daughters?" The logic was simple. If it looks like a girl, if it sounds like a girl, it must be a girl. Neither of the kids showed anything otherwise.

Satomi chuckled softly again, "I'm sorry I didn't say it earlier, Haru's a boy," Mitsuru tilted his head slowly, "Would you like to explain, Hotamru?"

He shrugged, "Yuina is an artist and Haru's dragged into drag to be her model. I don't think he minds though so there isn't much of a problem."

"Ah, well that would explain why she's carrying so many scrolls. I find it amazing that they already can control their chakra so young. Most ninja can't use it until they graduate from the academy."

"Haru takes after his mother," Satomi said, "He's definitely-" There was a sudden earth shaking and deafening crash that shook the whole house. And there was a few more tremors afterwards.

Another Anbu member teleported into the room, "Enemy ninja. We've been found."

"How? The barrier seals were activated," Satomi said before giving Hatomaru a kunai, "You protect the kids. I know you can do it. Mitsuru, we'll engage the enemy," Hotamaru ran to the kids room while Satomi ran outside. The Anbu team was fighting a team of rogue ninja with different weapons fighting against the Anbu. It was utter chaos with jutsu being cast and the earth being leveled at random. Satomi went after a man with a huge sword, "Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

The man was defended by a torrent of water that came from above and another ninja landed in front of Satomi, "We'll try this again, babe."

"Masato Ishibashi, ex-konoha jounin and missing-nin. Number six of the wanted list. Also known as Seiryu, the water master," Satomi said. The tall and muscular man before her had blonde hair and sinister black eyes and he had a sword in his left hand, "Tell me, why are you so adamant about keeping us from getting to the sand village?"

He laughed, "It's nothing personal babe, just business. It's the life of a ninja."

"Do you really think you can beat me? You're lucky you didn't die yesterday."

"Of course I can't beat you. Not alone that is."

Satomi sensed danger from her left and leaped to dodge a fireball coming at her. Suddenly from above a lightning armor clad ninja was coming down on her with a punch primed to sed her to the ground, "Wind Style: Northern Wind!" Satomi pushed the air up to throw the ninja off course as she regained her balance. However as soon as she hit the ground she noticed the earth was turning into a stream of stalagmites rushing towards her. Thinking fast, Satomi dodged outside of it's range but found herself trapped in the air. She looked around and figured she was trapped in a wind jutsu and gathered her own chakra, "Wind Style: Tempest!" Satomi released wind chakra from every part of her body to cancel the jutsu with her own. Once she landed she noticed a ring being made on the ground around her and it suddenly ignited into wall of flame that towered high above her and cut her off from the rest of the world.

"Satomi Sarutobi. You're as strong as they say." A man walked in through the wall of fire to meet her. He had orange hair and was clad in red clothes, "You probably know me don't you?"

Satomi ground her teeth, "Norinaga Athushi. The fire master called Suzaku."

A large, intimidating man with dark skin entered through the flames from the left, "As expected of one from the remaining Senju. I am Genbu, and hopefully you'll be more of a challenge than this one." Genbu held Mitsuru in his hand by the neck and threw him to the ground.

"Mitsuru!"

"I would worry about myself if I were you, babe," Seiryu walked from the east end of the flames, "Your friend doesn't have too long to live." He snapped his fingers and Genbu stomped and the ground then drove a stalagmite up through Mituru's prone body, "See?" he said while moving the hair from his face.

From the west end a bulky man with fair skin enter through with wind whipping the flames around him, "I am Byakko, the wind master." He said with a deep powerful voice, "You probably have guessed, but you will die here, Satomi.

The man encased in lightning armor also passed through, "And so will the rest of your family."

Satomi ignored them as she watched Mitsuru's body crumble to dust as a result of his final jutsu. And suddenly chakra began to visibly swirl around her, "Four S-Rank missing-nin against a Jounin, huh? If that's the case, so be it." The earth around her began to break off and spin about, "I never thought I would have the four Gods as my opponent," her skin started to turn red, "But there are things I need to protect, so I cannot lose here!" There was suddenly an explosion of chakra as a crater was made from under her feet and the air whipped around her, "Guy, thank you for teaching me this technique. Open: Sixth Gate of Joy!"

Hotamaru wasn't idle during his fight either, taking down a shinobi who had come after him, "How many are there?" The Anbu he was talking to was suddenly cut down by a swordsmen. When that ninja attacked Hotamaru he dodged to the left and struck him down with a single punch that caved in his attacker's chest. Hotamaru was reaching his limit with the Amplifier fist, a taijutsu style that blended Gai's strong fist with Hiashi's gentle fist. It was powerful, but very taxing for him.

"Die!" Another swordsman came from his blind spot with his sword raised, but before he could strike he was wound up by a thin wire and was squeezed until he was unconscious.

Of all people Yuina came with Haru hanging tightly on her back and her fingers had the ends of the wire that just took out the ninja, "They found us. So we had to come here."

"Good. All of you together? This should be easy." Coming from the same direction as Yuina was a tall man with brown skin, red hair, and green eyes. His teeth were sharpened like that of a shark and his hands were tipped with bloodied claws. He looked inhuman and the power radiating from him helped support the theory, "Let's finish this then."

Hotamaru bit his thumb and summoned Furi. It was a monkey from Enma's kingdom. He was a bit different, he had blue fur with a black pattern, red eyes and a short tail, "So I have chakra for you huh? Please, take Haru and Yuina away from here," he begged, "I know we don't always see eye to eye, Furi, but please do this for me."

"Let me help you, Hotamaru," Furi told him.

"No, just get them out of here." He said, "They'll be safe once I win here."

"He's too strong."

"I'll have to use 'that' technique." He said grimly before looking at the tiger-like man, "Can I say my final words to my children?"

The beastman smiled, "My name is Oryu. I will give you that much of a mercy, but be quick about it."

Hatomaru turned and bent down on knee to give his children a hug, "Take care of each other okay. I don't know what has happened to your mother, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Yuina I'm sure you'll be a great artist. Haru, no matter what people say about your crossdressing they can't deny that you're cute. Whatever you choose to do, you'll be great at it," he pushed them into Furi's arms, "What I choose to do, I do without regrets. I love you."

"Dad…I love you too," Yuina said.

"Go Furi!" With that the monkey and the children disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Oryu smiled smugly, "You know they won't get far.

"I have faith in my friends."

He shook his head, "Once I kill you, I'll catch them."

Hotamaru laughed, "I plan to die. But I'm taking you to hell with me!" Hotamaru clasped his hands in the tiger seal, "Secret Jutsu: Soul of the Hokage!" Chakra began to visibly stream from his body and suddenly it turned to majestic flames that wreathed Hotamaru's body. His eyes began to glow as he felt his soul become a searing blaze, "Let's finish this!"

"Now this is a challenge!" Oryu snarled, "Let's see what you got!"

"My family is on the line. You will not leave here alive!"


	2. Chapter 1

A household in the Sarutobi clan was getting together throwing a celebration. There was cake and fruits and dango and meat; it was a feast fit for a king. Or better yet for the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, was taking a break from his duties to celebrate with his clan, "Hey, Pops, I didn't expect to see you here." Asuma said upon seeing him.

"Even if I lead the village, my roots are in this clan," Hiruzen said, "Where is everyone?"

"We're all in the other room, come joining the party." Asuma led his father to a room full of people eating and drinking happily, but the attention wasn't focused on any single person.

"Hello everyone," Hiruzen said, "It's so nice to be back here again. We're here for a celebration aren't we? I'd like to know who it's for."

"The name is Haru Sarutobi. Remember the next God of Shinobi!" A young, rather androgynous boy (the only tell being his clothing) stood up from the crowd before smiling at him, "I'm glad you made it Grandpa!" Haru made his way over to Hiruzen and gave him a hug, "Uncle Asuma said you wouldn't come."

"Maybe it's a lesson not to take everything you hear for truths," Hiruzen said while patting his younger cousin's head, "I would not miss the beginning of a journey with so much potential, especially one with such an ambitious end. The God of Shinobi is quite the title."

"You just watch grandpa, I'll definitely be the greatest that the leaf has ever seen."

Asuma laughed heartily, "But right now you're just a loudmouth little kid, pretty far from any god."

Haru turned to Asuma with a frown, "Yasei!" he snapped his fingers loud enough to match a gunshot and a monkey fell from a ceiling to attack Asuma's head. Screeches and yells came from the monkey as it attacked with the comical fury of 1000 suns, "You done trash talking, Asuma-kisama?"

Asuma was holding Yasei at arm's length, but the monkey still had his tail wrapped around Asuma's throat, "Fine, fine, just get your little primate already."

Haru snapped his fingers again and the gold-furred spider monkey wriggled out of Asuma's grip and climbed Haru's clothes to sit on his shoulder, "Good job, Yasei," Haru said while grabbing him an apple slice. Everyone else just took it in stride and kept on with the party.

Suddenly Konohamaru appeared out of nowhere, fiery as usual, "Haru-niisan. I learned some new jutsu, let me show you, kore!" Despite the honorific Haru and Konohamaru weren't that far apart, only a month and tend days

Haru snapped his fingers again, this time by reflex, "Oh yeah! Asuma-jisan, I can do the jutsu you taught me now." He said with a fist in the air, "And you said you were a hundred years ahead of me."

"What? You learned Burning Ash already? It's only been a week!"

Haru and Yasei both pulled an Akanbe; pulling down one of their lower eyelids and sticking out their tongues, "Nyah!"

Haru's moment was interrupted my Konahamaru pulling him out the party, "Come on Niisan! Let's go, let's go!" With that the two children had left the adults back to their celebration.

Hiruzen began laughing, "Asuma," he said, "Come walk with me."

Asuma nodded and the two of them had left the celebration and walked through the Leaf village. They strolled through the residential district, past Ichiraku's, the library, and even the hot springs until Asuma saw that they were walking through the park beneath the stunning hues of the autumn leaves, "So what's up, Dad?" Asuma asked.

"It's been quite a while since we spent any amount of time together, don't you think?" Hiruzen said as the strolled along the leaf adorned path, "It's surprising, how fast time slips beneath our noses. How people change, and how they come and go."

Asuma took a cigarette and lit it before taking a drag, "You could say that."

"How has he been?"

Asuma took another drag, "Who? Shikamaru?"

Hiruzen shook his head, "No, Haru. He went through such a harrowing experience, so recently too. I haven't been around to see him, but it seems he's doing well."

"Exactly who are you looking at through that crystal ball of yours?" Asuma asked.

"Naruto mostly," Hiruzen said, "There's only so much I can do when that prankster is around."

Asuma nodded, "Well, at least Kakashi has him now. Haru though, he's a bit mysterious."

"Then we should recap on what exactly happened. Satomi and Hotamaru were traveling with Haru and his sister Yuina as they were going to the Sand. They were attacked multiple times and the Four God's attacked them. Satomi fought the elementals and Hotamaru took down their leader, Oryu. Hotamaru died after using forbidden jutsu. Haru and Yuina were attacked on the way here, but Satomi rescued them and bought them to the village gates."

"What? Didn't the report say she used the seventh gate? It's insane that she ran all the way here with shredded muscles."

"Well it was done," Hiruzen said with a nod, "We were able to treat them. Unfortunately Satomi died from the strain added to her already extensive injuries, but not before confirming that her kids were safe. Both of whom were also heavily injured. Haru's up, as you can see, and Yuina is alive, but has been comatose since then."

Asuma took another drag, "If they weren't Senju they probably would have died," he said, "Haru's been shell-shocked as you can imagine. After he recovered from his injuries, he spent a lot of time crying. Afterwards he stopped feeling, but he's out of the stoic mode now," Asuma took another drag, "I think he's living with it, but he's on a fine line."

A leaf broke from a branch and fell in front of Hiruzen as he thought, "I see. What of his behavior today? He seemed quite happy."

"Seemed is the key word. I, well, none of us knows what's really going through his head. If anyone even tries to bring up the issue he shuts down or goes extreme."

Hiruzen looked up at the falling leaves, "We can't force him to say anything, Asuma. But what we can do is make sure he knows his clan, and his village, is there to listen when he is ready."

Asuma snuffed his cigarette and put the butt in his pocket since he was reluctant to litter, "Going out on a limb here; maybe he can talk to Sasuke."

Hiruzen chuckled softly, "So we have two brooding avengers? No, I don't think that's the best idea. But it's interesting to note how different the two of the turned out." Hiruzen sighed, "How about we move to a more positive topic? Although he wasn't able to go through the regular curriculum his trainer notes he's picking up on things very quickly."

Asuma nodded, "It's a good generation for the Leaf. Haru is a genius, no doubt about it. That makes a trio; Sasuke of the Uchiha, Neji of the Hyuga, and Haru of the Sarutobi. I never thought that the new generation of ninja would be so strong. It's amazing they can use fire release so young."

"Haru's goal is to become the next God of Shinobi," Hiruzen smiled at the thought, "The strongest ninja of his era. Admirable."

Suddenly a third, foreboding voice,"Yes, quite admirable indeed. Once again, the Sarutobi clan manages to create geniuses one after another. Aren't you proud, Hiruzen?" The two Sarutobi turned to see a frail, old man with a cane, black, shaggy hair, a bandaged right eye, and an X-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt, with a grey robe concealing his right arm.

Asuma didn't say anything but instead let Hiruzen speak, "Danzo. Of course I am proud. This is a golden age for Konoha ninja. I think you'd also be of the same opinion."

Danzo nodded, "I am. Skilled ninja come and go…but gods? Gods are quite the rare phenomenon, Hokage. He needs to be molded young."

"Danzo, you're the last thing that Haru needs to deal with," Asuma said.

Danzo shifted his cane, "Ah yes, I've heard of the attack. It's been a month since then correct?"

"Yes, but he has only recently been able to resume training again. He went through a great amount of trauma." Hiruzen said

"I see," Danzo said before turning around, "If he's going to be the 'God of Shinobi' he must first steel his resolve. He mustn't let emotion cloud his judgment or his potential. Hokage, Asuma, have a good day."

Danzo strolled along forward while Hiruzen and Asuma made their way back to the Sarutobi house, "You know, I never liked that guy," Asuma said after Danzo was out of earshot.

"He can be unpleasant, but Danzo has nothing but good intentions for the Leaf," Hiruzen stated.

"Still, I don't like how he talked about Haru just now," Asuma took a drag, "I'm surprised he even wants to be a ninja."

"Like you said. None of us have yet to figure out what happened since he returned. All we can do is support him."

Asuma snuffed out his cigarette, "Hey dad," Hiruzen looked up with a raised brow, "Let's play Shogi."


	3. Chapter 2

"Fire Style: Burning Ash!" Haru flashed the handsigns then a stream of chakra infused gun powder from his mouth which surrounded the training field in a cloud of ash. Haru snapped his finger and ignited the cloud resulting in a massive explosion.

The dust cleared and on the other side of the explosion was a tall man with light brown skin, short, wavy hair, and brown eyes covered by dark, square shades, "So this is the new jutsu you wanted to show me, Haru?" he said.

Haru nodded, "Yeah Hiruko-sensei."

"How exactly did you learn it?" he asked.

Haru tapped the side of his head, "I saw Asuma do it and copied it. It took a few tries to learn how much chakra I needed, but it wasn't as much trouble as I thought it would be." He high-fived Yasei, "What do you think sensei?"

Hikaru walked to Haru and put a hand on his head, "Hmmm," Hikaru mused, "I don't like you using it," he said.

"What! Why not?"

"You build up far too much chakra for it."

"It didn't cause any problems before."

"You have very strong chakra, and you have a lot of it, but even your ridiculous amount can be wasted away if you're not careful."

Haru sighed, "If you say so sensei," Haru sat down and Yasei sat on his shoulder, "How strong am I?"

Hikaru stroked his chin, "You know this already. You're a jack-of-all-trades"

"You keep saying I'm strong, sensei. Everyone is saying it, but I don't feel any stronger."

Hikaru nodded, "What do you know about your parents?"

Haru's expression suddenly turned blank and despondent, "What about them."

"Where did they come from?"

"My father was from the Sarutobi clan, my mother was from the senju clan and she married in."

Hikaru bent down and put a hand on Haru's shoulders, "Exactly. Haru you have strength in your blood. Talent runs through your veins," he said encouragingly, "The jutsu you just did was a jutsu that even chunin have trouble with."

"Then why don't you want me to use it?"

"Simple," Haru stood up and followed his sensei, "You start everything with baby steps, Haru. You need to start simple."

"I'm past simple. I can already do more than most academy students."

"Yes, but you need to make your base strong. The stronger fundamentals you have, the more powerful you'll be. You understand that?"

Haru stopped to hold Yasei in his arms, "Fine, fine. I understand."

"I don't think you do," Hikaru said, "Use the wind jutsu I taught you."

Haru nodded and flashed the handsigns, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" There was a sudden gust of wind that shook the trees in it's path. An admittedly weak jutsu; it was C-ranked afterall, "So I can make a breeze, I don't see your point."

Hikaru smiled and did the same thing, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" The same thing happened but it blew Haru away, literally. The wind Hikaru summoned didn't just shake the trees; it knocked them all over leaving a path of destruction in it's wake, "That's the power of your fundamentals, Haru."

Haru snapped his fingers, "I get it now, sensei."

"Good," Hikaru stretched out, "Well then, that wraps up today's training then. I want you to work on your chakra control, Haru, it's lacking."

Haru held his fingr out to stop Hikaru's speech and held Yasei out in front of him, "I'm need to give you a bath," he said. Yasei chattered disapprovingly before forcing his way onto Haru's head and wrapped his tail around his neck like a scarf. Haru shook his head, "Sensei, what exercise is best for chakra control?"

Hikaru walked to a nearby, unfallen tree and began walking up the side of it and walked on the underside of a branch, "First, the tree-climbing exercise." He flickered over to the river where he stood on the water, "The water walking exercise is good too." He flickered back to Haru with a leaf in his hand, "And the exercise we did when we first met."

"Right, sensei," he said happily, "Last question. I was reading some scrolls and I learned the Shadow Clone technique. If I use a clone while I train I'll learn twice as fast right?"

Hikaru frowned, "Just where did you get research material for jutsu? It's not like they're available in the local library."

Haru shrugged, "Well, of course I'm not gonna look in the library. But when I heard about the archives I had to get in there."

Hikaru's eyes went wide, "What? How did you even know that place existed? There is very sensitive information in those scrolls!" Haru pointed to Yasei, who pointed back down at Haru, "You know what, nevermind. That's true, but don't overdo it, Haru. Yasei, make sure he's on the straight and narrow." The spider monkey stood and saluted, "Now then, till next time." With that he was gone, whisked away with nothing but a puff of smoke.


	4. Chapter 3

"Yasei! Yasei! Where are you?" Haru was running through Konoha snapping his fingers and looking through every nook and cranny. A simple game of hide and seek turned into a nightmare for Haru. He walked about snapping his fingers at a fevered pace that grew faster with each passing minute.

Suddenly the sinking feeling in Haru's chest began to swallow him as he walked through the small crowd. Was he being watched? What were they thinking? His breath caught in his throat and his hand was shaking so quickly that the sweat gathering on his palms was shook away as quickly as it formed.

Haru abandoned the search and ran to the Konoha Park and climbed into the one of many trees. He moved like a monkey, using his arms and legs to climb rather than walk up the tree's side. Haru climbed as high as he could, high enough so that he wouldn't be seen by whatever put him on.

He began to breathe easier and deeper while he felt his pulse relax, "Haru-niichan!" Konohamaru suddenly popped into the tree loudly announcing his presence. Before he could process everything Haru used the body flicker technique to get to the ground and he was on the run.

Haru took flight until his chest burned and his heart was pounding through his ribs. He ran himself to a corner behind the library and slowly began to compose himself, "Konohamaru," he said to himself, "He's a good guy, Haru. Relax, relax."

While he was getting over his anxiety he failed to notice that the wall had a misaligned pattern, "Haru," said a voice from behind the disembodied wall.

Haru snatched a kunai from the holster and held it up at the misaligned wall, "Who's there?"

Konohamaru dropped the cloak, "It's me, Konohamaru," he said lightly, "Is something the matter? I tried to talk to you earlier, but you kept running."

Haru huffed and put the kunai back, "You startled me," he said with hand still shaking slightly, "So what do you want?"

"Well you kept snapping your fingers and you looked like you were in a hurry," he said.

Haru smiled a simple smile, "I was playing hide and seek with Yasei, but I can't find him. I don't know where he could've gone. He always comes back when I snap my fingers."

"Is that so?" Konohamaru asked while messing with the goggles on his head, "Hey, hey! We can help you find him, kore. It'll be faster if we all work together."

Haru tilted his head, "We?"

Konohamaru whistled loudly and soon two more people appeared. The first was a sleepy looking boy with a drop of snot from his nose and the second was a girl with orange hair tied back in red elastics. Udon and Moegi, "We're the Konohamaru Army Corps!" Konohamaru said cheerfully, "The three of us will find your monkey in no time."

Haru smiled, genuinely this time, "Thank you," he said before putting up a seal, "Multi Mini Shadow Clone Jutsu." Around Haru's feet a small group of five-inch clones of him appeared. He picked them up and gave one to each person, "Take these with you, it will help us keep in touch."

"Whoah, where did you learn this jutsu?" Moegi asked.

"Later," Haru said, "We need to find Yasei. Let's go!"

The troop scattered and searched for the missing monkey. Each one of them approached the search differently, but Konohamaru took the old-fashioned approach of just asking the villagers, "Excuse me, have you seen a monkey around here? Gold fur, long tail, about big enough to fit on your shoulder?"

"A monkey? Nope, sorry."

"I've heard about some kids that were chasing a monkey earlier. I hope that helps."

"A golden monkey, eh? Let me think…Oh yeah. Some kids were chasing it, once they caught it the monkey started having a fit. When I asked why the kids say that they were going to give him a bath and they went on their way."

Konohamaru nodded, "Oh, um, do you know which way they went?"

"I think they were heading towards the Naka River."

"Thank you." Konohamaru sped off and picked up the clone holding on to his scarf, "Naka River. How are we going to let the original know that?" he asked.

"He already knows," the chibi-Haru said with a cutesy voice, "This jutsu is a modified version of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. We're smaller so we can actively transport info to Oyabun and he can do the same for us. Were kinda like radios"

"I see," Konohamaru said, "He really is a genius huh?" the little clone shrugged, "So is there anything we need to know?"

"Just head towards the Naka River and meet with Oyabun," Chibi-Haru said, "He'll be waiting there. Moegi and Udon know what's going on too," he said, "We'll regroup and search together."

A short time later Konohamaru landed to see Moegi sitting against a tree and looked up to see Haru in the branches. The two of them watched him move for a minute, "Geez, he moves just like a monkey," Moegi said.

Konohamaru shrugged, "I guess that's what happens when you're always with a monkey."

There were the sound of footsteps as Udon rushed on the scene, "I'm here guys."

Haru jumped from the tree and snapped his fingers to dispel the small clones n a puff of smoke, "So, briefing time," he said while sitting down, "Our objective is to find and retrieve Yasei. According to our info a group of kids captured him and they're around the Naka River. They're not far away either."

"How do you know that?" Moegi asked?

Haru held up a long, gold hair, "He's shedding. We'll need to follow a trail, but if he hears me snap my fingers he'll respond if he can. We may have to fight, are you alright with that?"

Konohamaru thrust a fist in the air, "I'm gonna be hokage, if I'm scared of a fight I'll never be there."

"I guess I'm in then," Udon said.

"Me three!" Moegi said, "Let's go, I wanna see the monkey." They travelled down stream and it wasn't long before the began to hear the sound of kids through the trees. It was a group of four kids their age and in the middle was a boy holding Yasei rather tightly, "What do we do?" Moegi whispered.

Haru took a breath as we thought, "I just wanna run in and grab Yasei."

"We can't do that," Konohamaru said, "Use your head, Niisan."

Udon sniffled, "How about we just talk to them," he said.

The three of them gave him sideways look, "What?"

Haru shook his head, "I'm not just going to sit there and watch you talk while he just holds Yasei."

A few minutes later, the three of them somehow ended up surrounded by the group trying to negotiate Yasei back. Udon was doing the talking. Haru's hand tapped against his side, since he was holding back from attacking the boy holding Yasei. Konohamaru was standing close to Haru so the negotiation wouldn't blow up and Moegi was just standing there with her head in her hand. Yasei struggled valiantly against the kid's grip the whole time.

Moegi sighed, "How did this happen?" she muttered.

"I don't know," Konohamaru replied.

Haru growled, "A Gilligan cut is not funny in this situation."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want my friend back, Konohamaru. Talking is not getting him back."

Udon nodded, "So that's why we want the monkey back," he ended. In the chance Udon couldn't be a ninja he could be a great merchant.

The boy tilted his head as he looked at Haru. He wasn't very special or remarkable, but he had a few traits that stood out. He was tall for his age, 150 cm. Another thing that stood out was his pale skin, mostly because it contrasted so strongly with the long, dark hair that fell to his shoulders. His eyes were dark shade of brown that matched the trees around him, "Okay, which one of you is the one that wants it?"

Haru stepped to him immediately, "I do."

"What's your name?" he asked smugly.

"Haru Sarutobi, now give me my friend back."

He laughed, "You think I would give him back just because you asked?" he said with a coy smile, "How much do you want him?"

Haru punched his fist into his palm, "Teme…"

"The name is Unkei Kogara. If you want your pet back you'll have to fight for it." Haru started forming hand seals, "Taijutsu only," he said as he gave Yasei to another. Take it or leave it."

Haru attacked immediately with a quick kick, but Unkei managed to block it, if barely. Unkei countered with a barrage of attacks of his own but Haru dodged all of them seamlessly. Haru deflected a punch and spun to chop the back of his neck, but Unkei spun back to block it and followed with a spinning kick. Haru ducked and flipped back to dodge another combo of kicks. With that opening leaping forward onto Unkei's shoulder and flipping back. Once Haru's hand hit the ground he used his legs to haul Unkei's body and slam him on his back.

Haru moved down to pin Unkei and put a hand around his throat with the other poised to punch him, "I win."

Even from his position Unkei smiled smugly, "You know, you're pretty up close like this."

Haru huffed and punched him in the solar plexus, "Baka," Haru looked around to see the group of kids he was surrounded by step in just a little closer to them, "A deal is a deal. We can leave with this or this can be a free-for-all."

"I guess you would be going all out then won't you?" Unkei asked. Haru nodded, "That would be dangerous." He snapped his fingers and his crew came to attention, "Let the monkey go, Eiko."

Yasei ran to Haru immediately after he was let down by the one holding him and Haru picked him up and held him, apparently ignoring everything else, "Oh, Yasei, I'm so sorry I lost track of you like that…" Haru went to the closest tree he could find and climbed it to a rather high, but sturdy branch above the other children.


	5. Chapter 4

Konohamaru sighed, "Let's just give those two their space," he said while taking a seat at the river bank, "Are you okay, Unkei?"

Unkei walked over and sat next to him, "Yeah, I'm fine," he rubbed his chest where he was punch, "I didn't know she could move like that."

"She? Who are you talking about?"

"Haru," he said.

Konohamaru snickered, "Haru's a boy, Unkei."

Unkei's head jerked back, "What? I don't believe it. He's cuter than Moegi."

"I thought you would've known. He was sitting on top of you."

Unkei rubbed a rib, "I was in a considerable amount of pain. He fast. And he strong too. He moves like a monkey."

"His best friend is one. "

Unkei looked back to see the others talking among themselves, "So I guess you have a new member of the Konohamaru Army Corps then?" he asked, "So we both have four."

Moegi was sitting next to another, tomboyish girl with short black hair and grey eyes, "I'm sorry, Eiko, but when boys decide to do this kind of thing it's pretty hard to stop them."

"Tell me about it," she sighed, "It's fun and all, but it's not really that fun if we need to do something mean like this, but Unkei's a nice guy he would've given the monkey back."

Udon was having a conversation with a boy who had sharp eyes through his glasses, opposed to Udon's sleepy look, "You make quite the argument, Udon. I have to admit that I wanted Haru to break it apart, It would've been fun fighting you."

Udon shook his head, "We'll have to fight another time, Namboku" he said, "If Haru wasn't limited to taijutsu I don't know what would happen."

Namboku tilted his head, "He's that strong? Usually academy students can only use basic jutsu's."

"Well, he does three things; train, play with Yasei, or train while playing with Yasei. He's attached to his monkey like a fly in a spider's web."

Namboku hummed while he thought, "Could it be that something happened to him?"

"I don't mean to rude," Eiko said to Moegi, "But he's really, well, jittery."

The two leaders looked back at each other, "I guess he is the topic of conversation huh? What's the deal though? He's super attached to that monkey," They looked up to see Haru petting Yasei in his lap. Ignoring what was going on below him and having a slightly more peaceful look, something he hasn't had since he lost Yasei, "He looks happy."

"Niisan has always been weird," Konahamaru said, "But he's always been a good type of weird, but ever since he came out the hospital he's been different. We don't play like we used to, sometimes he won't even talk to me, or he gets mad for some reason and goes away," Konohamaru frowned, "It's like he's hurting but he won't ask for help, I don't know If things can ever go back to normal."

Unkei put a hand on his shoulder, "Konohamaru, don't worry," he said gently, "Just give him some time alright? Things might not be normal, but people change, and it's not always a bad thing."

Konohamaru smiled, "Alright then," he stood up and faced his team, "Konohamaru Army Corps; we're outta here!"


	6. Chapter 5

As usual Haru was up high in a tree, sleeping now. Well slacking is a more appropriate term, which is the case until Yasei took time to wake him up by hitting him on his head, "What's with the screaming and the hitting?" Yasei pointed towards the middle of the village at the coliseum, "Why should I care about the chunin exams? I'm not going to the academy until later. Go back to sleep." Haru went to hold Yasei in his arms again only for Yasei to have more of a fuss.

Haru sighed and put up a hand seal, "Let's see if this works then. Fairy clone technique." A chibi-clone appeared on the branch, but this one was different. It appeared without any clothes or extremities, and had two pairs of iridescent wings on its back that helped him flutter about, "Can you just run around with Yasei for a little bit?" he asked, "Just make sure he doesn't get in trouble." The fairy-clone nodded and gave a salute, "You only have but so much chakra, but you have a decent amount to use in case you need to use a jutsu. Nothing past C-rank."

The clone nodded and flew down to the ground while Yasei clambered to the ground. Haru tried to finish his nap, but he couldn't get back to rest. He stood and walked down the tree with his hands in his pockets. By time he started to walk on the ground he knew that he where he was going to go. First he would stop home, there was something he had to grab.

After a walk through the city he had made it to the Sarutobi complex. Each clan had their own district after all. Haru walked to his house, it was empty, he figured that they were on a mission. Without anyone to interact with he kept walking, passing his room and reaching the closet, which didn't look like a closet at all. Instead it was a shelf full of meticulously organized scrolls.

He looked around then grabbed a scroll with a nod before leaving hs house, but once he opened the door he walked into someone and feel over, "Ow…"

"Are you alright? I'm sorry," Haru recognized the voice immediately and looked up to see Unkei holding his hand out.

Haru frowned and ignored the hand while he stood up, "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well I saw this guy right here wondering on his lonesome," he said before holding up a jar with Haru's fairy clone in it, "Yasei made a break for it."

Haru snatched the jar and released his fairy clone, "You have a bad habit of taking things that aren't yours," he said before snapping his fingers, "Yasei!" Suddenly a ball of golden fur fell from the sky and began to attack Unkei's head.

Who promptly began screaming, "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" Haru just watched as Yasei lived up to his namesake, "Haru, come on! I'm sorry!"

Haru snapped his fingers again and Yasei jumped to his shoulder. Haru looked at the clone, "What do you think? Apology accepted, or do you want to do something before you're dispelled?" The fairy flew up to Unkei's face and put up a handsign and suddenly Unkei was blown away by a gust of wind. The fairy clone disappeared in a puff of smoke with a smile, "Apology accepted."

Haru continued with what he was doing before Unkei had to…be Unkei, "Wait a second, Haru," Unkei stumbled up behind him.

Haru groaned, "What do you want? I'm seriously thinking about burning you."

"Don't be so cold, Haru. Are you headed for the Chunin exams?" he asked while fixing his matted and beaten hair.

"I'm not."

"Can I ask where you're going?"

"No," Haru walked on in silence and sighed, "Are you really going to follow me?"

Unkei smirked, "Well of course. If you won't tell me I guess I'll just have to go with you." Haru rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring Unkei's attempt at conversations. They made their way through the village and it wasn't too long before they came upon the Leaf Village Hospital, "Huh? What are we doing here?"

Haru turned to look at him, "Unkei, You'll need to leave now," he said before going into the hospital.

"Hey, hey! Wait for me!" he said as he rushed in behind him.

When he got inside he saw Haru talking to one of the nurses, "Any changes?" he asked.

"Nothing since the last time you were here," the nurse said sweetly, "Maybe you should go visit."

Haru nodded, "Same room right?"

"Of course."

"Thank you," Haru looked at Unkei and vanished before his eyes. As if he was never even there, since Yasei vanished as well. The look Unkei saw was a look of sadness

Unkei sighed at being left alone so suddenly, "Shunsin, huh? Konohamaru didn't lie when he said Haru was strong." The one thing that confused him most is why he would be here in the first place. Still, if there was one thing Yamanaka was good for, it was finding people. He closed his eyes and focused on the chakra around him…but he couldn't distinguish the chakra signatures.

"Can I help you?" a nurse came from behind him, "You seem lost."

He turned around and answered her, "I'm looking for Haru Sarutobi," Yamanaka were good for getting information too. It was all in their techniques.

The nurse tilted her head, "Sarutobi? Let me check the directory," Unkei followed the nurse to the nurse's station where she began to search on the computer, and where Unkei began to look at her mind. A few seconds later a name came up. Yuina Sarutobi, with Haru very associated with it. Also a number, 123. It must be the room number, "There isn't a Haru Sarutobi here, dear."

Unkei shook his head, "Alright then. Thank you," before long Unkei made his way to the designated room. Through the open door he saw Haru there, but there were things off. He couldn't hear Haru talk, and when he tried to walk into the room he was blocked by some sort of barrier. Not only that, but his outfit was also different. Usually Haru wore a simple outfit; a sleeveless black shirt with a pair of gloves stopped at his biceps, matching pants, and sandals. Now it was drastically different style; he wore a short-sleeved hoodie with bunny ears that went down to his thighs so that Unkei could barely see the shorts underneath while foregoing shoes completely.

Haru looked up and saw him at the door, but ignored him as he sat down next to Yuina, "Oh yeah, neesan, I forgot to tell you about this guy who's been bothering me. He's from the Yamanaka clan so I have to keep my guard up around him, but I think he's nice, or trying to be at least. He called me pretty, even after I beat him up. I think he doesn't know I'm a boy. Not many people do…" Haru suddenly choked on his words and rubbed at his eyes. As usual Yuina didn't respond to him at all. Her breathing was calm as her chest steadily rose and fell in tandem.

Haru still was too determined to give up, "Everyone is doing okay on this side. I told Grandpa that I would take his spot as God of Shinobi. Him and Uncle Asuma both laughed at me, so I challenged them. They wanted me to use the Burning Ash Jutsu. So I did it in a week, and I can walk on water and walk on walls and I'm learning tons of jutsu just like mom."

No response. In stark contrast to Yuina's steadiness Haru had tears streaming down his face and his breath had become heavy and erratic, "I know you hear me, Yuina," he said, "You're just having a bit of trouble showing it," he paused again and rubbed his eyes again, "Neesan, I'm wearing one of the outfits you made me. The bunny rabbit one, remember? It's still a little big, but…but…" Haru broke down and collapsed onto the bed as he cried, "Wake up, Yuina! Please, wake up! You should've just ran away, why did you come back for me?" Haru began shaking her gently at first then it built to the point where he was shaking the bed itself, but Haru stopped once the futility set in on him, "Please wake up, Yuina…I don't want to be alone."

Unkei had anaged to break the barrier long after he was able to break the jutsu muting the sound of Haru's anguish. Without thinking he walked into the room and sat next Haru, "Haru, what makes you think you're alone?" Haru snapped his head up and Unkei was captivated. Haru looked small, cute and scared, like a little animal needed to be protected. His big brown eyes were wet with the tears sparkling on his cheeks. Unkei didn't want to admit, but Haru was charming him and the assault earlier was endearing.

Unkei reached out to him and suddenly the look of endearment turned into divine fury, "I told you not to come!"


	7. Chapter 6

"I told you not to come and I moved so you wouldn't track me, then you sabotage my jutsu to peep in on me!" Haru grabbed Unkei by the arm and threw him to the wall hard enough for him to bounce off, but before Unkei could fall he was kicked by Haru's flying body, grabbed again and thrown to the ground. Haru crossed his arms, "Get up! I'm not done with you yet."

Unkei stood and held his hand out, "Wait, Haru. Think about Yuina. You can beat me all you want, but what if she gets hurt in the process?" Before he knew it he was flying out of the window to the ground a story below him. He hit the ground and rolled to avoid Haru's attack, "This isn't exactly what I meant!"

"Brace yourself!" Haru charged and his string of attacks hit Unkei like the fist of an angry god before he weaved handsigns, "Water Style: Water Trumpet!"

Suddenly Haru's head jerked up and the torrent of water shot high into the air and missed Unkei completely, "What in the…." As much as Haru tried he couldn't move. His eyes were still on Unkei, but he didn't see any handseals he was using, "Onore! Why can't I move?"

"Well, well, I got here right on time it seems. I got your distress call, Unkei," walking past Haru was a tall man with long blond hair reaching into his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong features, "You better have a good reason for getting in a fight at a hospital."

Unkei nodded, "Sorry Inoichi-jisan."

Haru was trying to move, but was only getting frustrated the more effort he put into it, "Hey, hey! Let me go, Inoichi!" Haru demanded.

Inoichi shook his head, "I have the feeling that you'll attack anything that moves. Calm down first."

"Let me go first!"

Inoichi looked at Unkei, "I know Haru has a bit of a temper, but what exactly happened?"

"Well, you see what happened was-"

"Let go of me!" Haru interrupted.

"Will you keep calm?" Inoichi asked.

Haru gave Unkei a predatory look then nodded to Inoichi, "Fine."

The instant Inoichi released the jutsu Haru took sat on the ground and crossed his arms, "Good on you," Inoichi said before turning to Unkei, "As you were saying?"

Unkei looked away and rubbed the back of his head, "Well…um…you see what happened was…so yeah."

Inoichi sighed, "Fine, we'll just do it the fast way," Inoichi put his hand on Unkei's head and quickly probed through his memories of the day's events within a second, "I see…No wonder he's angry. Unkei, I've told you this already a thousand times. The Yamanaka jclan techniques just can't be abused at your leisure. It's…" As Inoichi lectured his clansmen Haru realized something. Where exactly did the water from his jutsu go? He looked up and saw some water dripping from Yuina's open window and a drenched Yasei peeking his head over the sill. Worried if the jutsu hit Yuina accidently he used Shunshin to speed up the wall and back in through the window, "And you, Haru…Inoichi turned to see an empty spot, "Geez."

"Where'd she go?" Unkei asked.

"Yuina."

As the two Yamanaka moved Haru was a bit of a mess. He was placing heating seals on the floor to evaporate the water and was using wind jutsu to dry various things while Yasei was using a bucket to pour water out of the window. As he dried off the medical equipment in the room he began talking aloud to Yuina, "I'm sorry about the water," he said, "It's stupid Unkei's fault," after making sure everything looked right he walked over to Yuina and began drying the rest of the area with the wind jutsu and dried her face with clean cloth, "I wonder if someone made a drying jutsu. That would be useful for when I'm doing clothes, but usually Izumi does laundry."

Haru didn't expect an answer at this point, but kept talking as he cleaned up, "You remember them right? Izumi and Kaemon? They took us in after mom and dad left. They're nice. It's weird though, Kaemon usually goes on missions while Izumi stay home. Mom usually couldn't stand being cooped in the village," Haru sighed, "It's a lot of work cleaning this up," There was a knock on the door and Haru ignored it, he already knew who was on the other side, "Inoichi opened the door regardless, "I don't think you need to look in my head to know I don't like surprise guests."

Inoichi waded in the water, "You know, you could have called a nurse," he said. Haru noticed Unkei at the door and snarled at him, but Inoichi patted his head, "I know you're mad at Unkei, and not without reason, but you can't attack him. Besides he has something he'd like to say to you."

"I don't want to talk to him."

"Can you at least hear him out?" Inoichi asked.

Haru sighed, "Fine. 15 seconds," Inoichi nodded and motioned to Unkei, "Wait," Haru said suddenly, "How do I know that neither of you aren't messing with my head?"

Inoichi shook his head and patted Haru, "I promise."

Unkei walked in a bowed slightly, "Haru, I'm really sorry about following you even though you said not to. I didn't think about beforehand, but I was only just trying to be-"

"15." Haru said, cutting him off. He stood up and sat on the chair on Yuina's bedside, "I would punch you, but I think I did a good job of that already. I'd like to be alone now," Inoichi stood and guided Unkei towards the door, but Haru suddenly spoke up, "Unkei, thanks."

Once outside Unkei began to realize something. He needed help, and it wasn't the kind of help that none of the Rangers or the Army Corps can help him out with, "Inoichi-jisan..."

"What is it, Unkei? You can't expect me to always go in our head to find out hat you're thinking."

"Inoichi, I think I like Haru a little bit," Haru was surprised by how easily the confession came.

Inoichi on the other hand laughed, "Really? Did you forget Haru just threw you out of a window, and beat you like you were a training dummy?"

Unkei crossed his arms, but winced when he accidentally pressed a bruise, "I know that, but still. She's odd, Inoichi. It's like she's super strong one second then weak the next. And…I don't know. It's weird."

Inoichi laughed, "Why don't you ask your cousin Ino about this?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Haru said, "Ino is bossy and mean."

Meanwhile back in the hospital room Haru was watching Yasei mess around as he talked to Yuina. He had remade the seals the Unkei destroyed earlier, but endeavored to make them a little stronger. He heard a strange and rhythmic tapping that bought him to attention and looked up to see Danzo standing at the door. As Haru studied him Danzo was peering through the threshold at the seal around the door and he looked into the room at Haru and his sister.

Danzo lifted his cane and once he bought it down he destroyed the barrier on the door and walked into the room. Haru immediately felt suspicious and Yasei jumped in between him and Danzo as if he felt the same. Haru followed Danzo's gaze as it fell onto Yuina's sleeping body and Haru took her hand in his, "Haru Sarutobi. Do you know who I am?"


End file.
